Rising Lippa Rig – Lippa 4 Life and Large Needle Nose Pliers

First Impressions

The Lippa 4 Life pliers are not an ordinary plier and at first glance I didn’t know what the heck I’d be using this for. The 9 inch needle nose pliers that came with the rig was a given. Right away I could tell the quality and design that went into making these fishing tools. The set felt very sturdy and strong with no loose parts. The Cordura holding pouch was clean and was very durable.

Field Testing

I do most of my fly fishing from a boat so there wasn’t a real need to carry the rig at my hip, although the holding pouch does come with a belt clip and loop to attach a belt through. Since the rig was designed to hold fish in the water while removing hooks, this is what I set out to do.

The Lippa pliers do come with a spiral compression cord attached and that is attached to the Cordura holding pouch. This would be very useful if carrying the rig at the hip and for working in small areas where an accidental dunking could occur. For my use I attached a small rope section to form a loop to the Lippa pliers. It was easy to slide my hand through the loop and grab the pliers before carrying it over the side of the boat. After my first fish, I was a pleasantly surprised how well I was able to grip and hold pressure on the pliers, even while I was holding a decent sized Smallmouth bass in the water. Keeping a fish in the water increases it chances for survivability after release. The Lippa Rig helps by keeping your catches mouth open and clear of your own hands. Having a clear area to work made it very easy to get the sturdy 9″ needle nose pliers into the mouth for a fast un-hooking.

Conclusions

Both the Lippa Pliers and the needle nose pliers held up quite nicely to the constant use throughout the summer. The Lippa Rig only showed signs of normal outerwear use, but no major functional problems. I definitely would recommend this to anyone that handles a lot of fish, especially toothy critters. I will be using the Lippa Rig set for a long time and it’s built to last.

Rising is starting to make a name for itself and gaining a lot of followers. Rising does make a variety of tools for fly fishing, including saltwater options. Call your local fly shop to find out if they stock it, otherwise search online for the many online retailers.